Coach John Cook Packed the House at Annual Chamber Banquet in Broken Bow

Surround yourself with great people to help you be the best you can be

- Coach John Cook

BROKEN BOW–It was a packed house at the One Box Convention Center on Saturday night where 410 people gathered for the Broken Bow Chamber of Commerce annual banquet.

This year 47 businesses celebrated milestone anniversaries, with the Custer County Ag Society celebrating its 135 year of running the Custer County Fairgrounds.

Ron Chytka with the Ag Society, Melissa Garcia, Chamber President

Top awards:
Citizen of the Year: Janet Kalinowski
Chamber Business of the Year: Bow Family Furniture
Excellence in Customer Service, Individual: Jim Zlomke (Broken Bow Public Schools)
Excellence in Customer Service, Business: Runza

The highlight of the evening was championship-winning Coach John Cook with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln volleyball team. He shared inspiring words with the crowd, emphasizing the importance of three specific “bones” in our body: the backbone to keep you strong, the wish bone to keep you dreaming and setting goals, and the funny bone to keep you passionate, have fun in life, and look forward to the future.

“Surround yourself with great people to help you be the best you can be,” Coach Cook said. “Anything you want to accomplish or be good at, you’re going to have to work for it. Nobody’s going to give it to you.”

He also talked about the necessity of goal setting and face-to-face communication.

“You always have a destination. So where do you want to get to? What goals do you want to accomplish? You have to write them down, you have to see it, and you have to share it. And the most important thing is you have to commit to it,” he said.

Thank you to the Chamber staff and board for hosting yet another successful banquet.

“Coming together each day and working toward a common goal as a group. It’s a very powerful thing. And if you ever get to be around that, and hopefully you’re chasing a feeling of some kind for you that you want,” Coach Cook concluded.

Chamber Executive Director Deb Kennedy reported that Coach Cook said had a great night in Broken Bow! “Great night. Loved the energy of the crowd. One of my all time favorite nights,” Coach Cook said.

All photos courtesy of the Broken Bow Chamber of Commerce and taken by Julie Toline

Chamber Executive Director Deb Kennedy, Citizen of the Year recipient Janet KalinowskiBusiness of the Year: Bow Family FurnitureExcellence in Customer Service, Individual: Jim ZlomkeExcellence in Customer Service, Business: RunzaCoach John Cook with trivia contest winner Kristine Moninger, who received a signed copy of his book